A Jamaican national who fled the airport during a customs search has been found guilty of smuggling heroin.

Omar Davy, 38, was spotted on CCTV taking a package from the back of his pants and stashing it in an already-searched bag when he was briefly left alone.

He told the Supreme Court that he had agreed to bring a package into Bermuda after his life and the lives of his family were threatened.

Yesterday, after 30 minutes of deliberation, the 11-person jury found Davy guilty of drug importation.

Davy was also convicted by a unanimous verdict of possession of a drug with intent to supply and obstruction of a customs officer.

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves remanded him into custody until tomorrow, when he will be sentenced.

Prosecutors alleged that Davy smuggled 220.88 grams of heroin, worth up to $765,700 if sold on the streets of Bermuda, into the island on July 10 last year.

The court heard Davy, from Mandeville, Jamaica, arrived in Bermuda that afternoon on an Air Canada flight from Toronto.

He was selected for a secondary search and, as his bags were being searched, a drug-sniffing dog indicated that he had an illegal substance on him.

The customs officer involved in the search said Davy appeared to be nervous and was repeatedly pulling down his shirt and pulling up his pants.

An inspection of his bags found nothing, but when the officer went to see her superior, Davy was seen on CCTV taking an object from his trousers and placing it in the searched bag.

He then appeared to cover the object with clothes before the officer returned.

Questioned by the customs officer, Davy said he had to deal with a traffic ticket in Bermuda and that he planned to stay with his girlfriend while on the island.

Asked to write down her name, he wrote “Dewight R”.

He was then asked for her full name, and claimed it was “Dawnette Geed”.

Davy later ran out of the airport, leaving his bag behind, and led customs officers on a chase to the Causeway.

He managed to flag down a truck, but a security guard on a motorcycle stopped the vehicle while it was still on the Causeway, and Davy was arrested.

Davy told the court that on the day before his flight, he was abducted by a group of men at gunpoint over a $24,000 debt he had to a Jamaican “don”.

He told the court the men forced him into a waiting SUV, where they put a black cloth over his head.

They then choked and beat him for 20 minutes as they drove him to another location. There, Davy said he was beaten until he could barely stand, then choked unconscious.

Davy said that after he was awoken by further blows, he agreed to bring a package to Bermuda.

He told the court the men had threatened not only his life, but the lives of his family in Jamaica.

The men then drove him to Pearson International Airport in time for his flight.

Davy said on the plane he took the package from the laptop case where the men left it, and debated leaving it on the plane. Instead, he said he put it in the back of his pants.

Davy said he had no idea what was in the package, and ran out of the airport because he panicked.

Alan Richards, Crown counsel, called Davy’s story a “movie script” made up to escape conviction.

Mr Richards asked Davy how he was able to outrun customs officers hours after he was beaten to the point he could barely stand, and why his attackers had left more than $1,500 in his wallet if they wanted money.

The prosecutor also highlighted that a police officer present during a strip-search of Davy hours after his arrest saw no bruises, cuts or swelling.

Archibald Warner, defence lawyer for Davy, said the prosecutors had failed to prove that the defendant knew the packages contained an illegal drug.

Mr Warner also argued that Davy had acted under “extreme duress”.

• Update: When the Crown opened its case, it told the Supreme Court the estimated value of the seized heroin was $647,900. During the course of the trial a police analyst gave a revised figure of $765,700, as reported in this story.

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